The country, which relies heavily on the inbound holiday market, is also to launch a campaign focused on promoting Spain as a “safe destination” to restore consumer confidence.

Tourism minister Reyes Maroto stressed that research had shown that Spain’s image as a destination had not been damaged by the pandemic and there was demand from holidaymakers to return to the country later in the year.

“Our priority in 2021 is to reactivate tourism and resume safe mobility on a global scale as soon as possible,” said Maroto.

“We are working to adopt a common framework of a series of planned actions to give confidence to tourists. We hope that at the end of spring and especially during the summer, international travel will resume and travellers will choose Spain as their destination.”

Maroto made her comments as she presented a study of Spain’s positioning as a destination when she also emphasised the availability and rolling out of vaccines as a “horizon of hope”.

Miguel Sanz, general director of the Spanish Tourism Office, said it had launched a new promotional campaign called Travel Safe as a way to reassure visitors about the country’s safety and provide all the latest information on requirements and conditions.